Gun battery



March w, 1945 J. C. WO1-TER 2,371,324

GUN BATTERY INVENTOR March E3, i945. I J. c. TROTTERv GUN BATTERY Filed Aug. 9, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 A n v1 l E...

Mmch 13, 1945. Q TROTTER 2,371,324-

GUN BATTERY Filed Aug. 9, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Patented Mar. 13, 1945 UNITED STATES raTENT OFFICE GUN BATTERY John C. Trotter, Williamsville, N. Y., assignor to Bell Aircraft Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application August 9, 1941, yserial No. 406,163

3 Claims.

This invention relates to ordnance, and more particularly to an improved form of exible mount for machine guns, and the like. One of the objects of the invention is toI provide an improved gun mount device for mounting machine guns or the like upon vehicles in such manner as to be adapted to shoot from side wall portions ol the mounting vehicle in an improved manner. Another object of the invention is to provid@ an improved gun mount apparatus for Amounting a rapid fire gun upon an enclosure structure adjacent a wall portion thereof in such manner that the gun is adapted to fire from said enclosure in an improved manner. Another'object of the invention is to provide an improved form of gun mount and cartridge belt guide mechanism for use in conjunction with a rapid re type gun. Qther objects and advantages will appear from the specication hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a gun mount and cartridge belt guide apparatus of the invention, showing a gun in front end elevation mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a top plan of the mechanism of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof.

The drawingsl illustrate the invention in conjunction with a machine gun I0, which it will be understood may be of any suitable type comprising essentially a casing I2- and a barrel I4. The gun is illustrated in Figs. l and 2 as being mounted upon a gun Imount and cartridge belt guide device of the invention which is indicated generally at I5 as being mounted within and upon an enclosing structure including a side wall portion having an outer contour as indicated at I 6. The gun and mount devices are so arranged that the gun is exibly mounted relative to the enclosing structure and in such manner that the gun barrel Ill is adapted to extend outwardly of the wall contour I6 through a suitab-ly apertured portion thereof for directing the lire of the gun externally of the `enclosing structure.

It will be understood that the enclosing structure which mounts the gun I may comprise any stationary or mobile unit such as a fort or tank or airplane, or the like; and that in the case of an airplane mounting of the gun I0 the line I5 of the drawing will designate the outer contour of the airplane fuselage in the region of the gun mount. and that the mount device I will be disposed substantially within the interior of the airplane fuselage while the gun I0 will extend therefrom as explained hereinabove.

. The gun mount and cartridgefbelt guidedevice' of the invention is illustrated as comprising a stationary base plate 2U which is suitably supported from any base structure by means of' brackets 2 2' so as to extend in a substantially horizontal plane. A plurality of bearing pins 24 are.

mounted to extend vertically from the base .plate 2i] at intervals circumferentially thereof, and the pins 2-4 each carry a'peripherally grooved roller 26 for rotatably engaging the periphery of a cir cular flange portion 28 of a gun mount bracket 30.

The gun mount bracketS is generally of openside box-like formvc'o-mprising a back plate porn tion 32 and opposite side plate'portions 34 extending integrally and vertically from the flanged plate portion 28 thereof. Thefrollers 26 engage at their flanged portions above and below the plate portion 28 of the bracket member, and thus the bracket 30 is supported against vertical displacement relative to the base plate 28 while being freely rotatable about a vertically disposed axis extending centrally of the rollers 2S. The back plate portion 32 ofthe bracket 3U mounts a series of pins 35 which are disposed in spaced circular relationship when viewed in side elevation (Fig. 3). Each of the pins 35 carries a peripherally grooved roller 3'6, corresponding to the rollers 26 carried by the base plate 20, and a gun mount plate 38 of circular form is mounted to engage between the grooved portions of the rollers 3B so as to be rotatably carried thereon and guided thereby against displacement therefrom. A gun support arm 4I) extends rigidly from the mount plate 38 at a position-ollset both vertically and laterally from the center lineofrotation of the plate 38, and a second bracket ll2 extends from the plate 38 in laterally spaced relation with respect to the arm 40 so as to provide a two-point mounting bracket arrangement for connecting the gun I0 to the mounting plate 38 in such manner that the center of mass of the gun I0 substantially intersects the axis of rotation of the mounting plate 318 relative to the bracket 36. Locking screws 43-44 are provided inconjunction with.

the mounting arms All-4 2, respectively, to facilitate detachable mounting of the gun II) upon the Thus, it will be understood that the gun l is mounted upon the bracket l so as to be freely rotatable thereon about a horizontal axis ex tending transversely through the bracket device for elevational adjustments of the gun relative to the mounting structure, and that the relative disposition of the center of mass of the gun and of the axis of elevational adjustment movement of the gun may be arranged in any manner desired. Also, it Will be understood that the bracket 30 is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis relative to the stationary base plate for azimuth adjustments of the gun I0; but that the axis of the bore of the gun I0 is offset laterally a substantial distance from the axis of azimuth adjustment rotation thereof (Figs. 1 and 2).

The mounting plate 38 and the back plate portion 32 of the bracket 30 are apertured as indicated at 5E| and 52 respectively so as to freely accommodate therethrough continuous movement of the cartridge belt which is indicated in Fig. 1 at 55, for feeding the gun Ill from a magazine disposed below the mounting bracket 30, as at any suitable location within a lower portion of the body of the vehicle upon which the gun is mounted. The apertures 50-52 are located substantially concentric of the axis of rotation of the mounting plate 38 relative to the bracket 3l), and it will be understood that the apertured portion 52 will be preferably of enlarged circular form to accommodate twisting of the' cartridge belt in connection with elevational adjustments of the gun. The bottom plate portion 280i the bracket and the base plate 20 are similarly apertured as illustrated at 56 and 51 to accommodate the movement of the cartridge belt 55 vertically therethrough in the region of the axis of rotation of the bracket 30 relative to the base plate 2D; and it will be understood that the aperture 56 need be only of slot form while the aperture 51 will preferably be of circular form to accommodate twisting of the cartridge belt in connection with azimuth adjustments of the gun.

A pair of opposed guide rolls 58--58 are mounted by means of pins 59-59 to extend between opposite side Wall portions 34-34 of the bracket structure so as to provide therebetween a suitable space for free movement of the cartridge belt 55 in rolling contact with the rollers 58. Thus, the rollers 58 are adapted to guide the cartridge belt 55 at all times so as to thread into the bracket 30 from the magazine therebelow substantially in line with the axis of rotation of the bracket 30 relative to the base plate 20. A pair of similar rollers 60-60 are mounted upon shafts (il- 6l to extend in opposed relation between the side wall portions 34 of the bracket 30 for guiding the movement of the cartridge belt from the positions of the rollers 58--58 to the position of the cartridge feedway port of the gun I0. For this purpose the rollers 60-60 are aligned so as to substantially bisect the angle between the upper and intermediate strands of the cartridge belt 55, and to deliver the cartridge belt toward the gun 4at the elevation of the elevational axis of rotation of the mounting plate 38 relative to the bracket 30. The rollers 60-60 are preferably disposed at a' substantial distance from the gun cartridge feedway so that during elevational adjustments of the gun I0 relative to the bracket 30 the ac companying twist of the cartridge belt 55 will be distributed throughout a relatively long upper strand portion of the cartridge belt. It will be understood that whereas the cartridge belt is fed from the magazine I4 into the bracket 3l) at the center of rotation of the bracket 30 relative to the supporting base plate 20, the cartridge belt is thereby guided into the bracket in an improved manner, and that by reason of the relative arrangement of the parts of the mechanism as explained and illustrated the Aangles of twisting and turning of the cartridge belt in connection with elevational and azimuth adjustment of the gun are minimized.

To offset the effects of recoil forces operating upon the gun mechanism during ring thereof, such as would otherwise be translated into rotational moments about the axis of rotation of the bracket 30 relative to the base plate 20, an irreversible drive mechanism is preferably arranged upon the base plate 20 to engage the bottom plate 28 of the bracket 30. This device may comprise,

for example,'any suitable motor mechanism as indicated at 64 arranged in geared relation with a suitable toothed rack portion 65 of the bracket bottom plate 28, and it will be understood that the motor device 6A may be arranged to be either manually or mechanically driven in any manner desired to procure the azimuth adjustments of the gun l0 in connection with training thereof while preventing unintended rotation of the mounting bracket relative to the base plate 20 as in response to the recoil forces of the gun Similarly, a motor device 66 is preferably mounted upon the bracket 30 to engage in geared relation with a toothed portion E1 extending from the mounting plate 38 for controlling rotation of the mounting plate 38 relative to thebracket 30.

Thus, the motor device 66 may be either manual-v ly or mechanically driven to procure the desired elevational adjustments of the gun in connec tion with firing operations thereof, while the motor device 66 will prevent unintended rotational movements of the gun mount about the axis of rotation of the mounting plate 38 relative to the bracket 30, as in response to recoil forces of the gun firing operation.

Thus, it will be understood that the gun mount arrangement of the invention provides for azimuth adjustments of the gun about an axis of rotation which is substantially offset from the axis of the gun barrel, While the axes of elevational and azimuth gun adjustments intersect. Consequently, the mechanism permits arrangement of the mounted gun in such manner as to be mounted externally of a wall portion of a stationary or mobile enclosure or the like, while the gun mount apparatus extends through an apertured portion of the enclosure wall and into the interior thereof into connection with a stationary base support. Thus, the gun is adapted to be trained to lire both laterally from the enclosure and in all directions parallel to the outer surface of the wall thereof, whereby increased range of lire isprovided in conjunction with a mounting arrange.- ment whereby the gun is at all times supported relatively closely to the outer contour of the en closure wall. Thus, an increased range of re is obtained while avoiding substantial projection of the gun externally of the mounting enclosure, whereby the gun and the gun crew remain substantially protected by the body of the enclosure. In addition, an improved guiding of the cartridge belt as it moves from the magazine into the gun is provided, as explained hereinabove.

Although only one form of the invention has been shown and described in detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the inven-.

tion is not so limited but that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In combination, a gun enclosure having an apertured side wall, a gun mount device including a base xed within said enclosure, a rst bracket mounted upon said base for azimuth adjustment rotation thereon about a vertical axis extending Within said enclosure, a pivot connection device carried by said iirst bracket and having a horizontally disposed pivotaxs, a second bracket mounted upon said pivot connection device so as to be oiiset from said vertical axis for rotation upon said rst bracket about a horlzontal axis extending in a direction intersecting said vertical axis, gun support means carried 'by and extending from said second bracket in a direction away from said vertical axis, and a gun mounted upon said support means so as to be carried thereby to extend in a direction oiiset from said vertical axis, said second bracket being constructed and arranged to support said gun Wholly exteriorly of said side Wall contour Yfor aiming in a direction alongside thereof under certain conditions of azimuth adjustment of said rst bracket and to support said gun wholly interiorly of said side Wall contour and alongside thereof` underother conditions of azimuth adjustment of said rst bracket and in directions for aiming laterally through said apertured Aside Wall under other conditions of azimuth adjustment of said rst bracket.

2. In combination, a gun enclosure having an apertured side wall, a gun mount device including a base xed within said enclosure, a rst bracket mounted upon said base for rotation thereon about a vertical axis extending within said enclosure, a pivot connection device carried by said first bracket and having a horizontally disposed pivot axis, a second bracket mounted upon said pivot connection device so as to be ofiset from said vertical axis for rotation upon said first bracket about a horizontal axis extending in a direction` intersecting said vertical axis, gun support means carried by and extending from said second bracket in a direction away from said vertical axis, and a gun mounted upon said support means so as to be carried thereby to extend in a direction offset from said vertical axis, said second bracket being constructed and arranged to support said gun exteriorly of said side wall contour for aiming parallel thereto under certain conditions of azimuth adjustment of said rst bracket and for aiming laterally through said side wall aperture under other conditions of azimuth adjustment of said first bracket.

3. In combination, a gun enclosure having an apertured side Wall, a gun mount device including a base fixed within said enclosure, a bracket mounted upon said base for rotation thereon about an axis extending vertically Within said enclosure, a second bracket mounted upon said rst bracket so as to be pivotable thereon at a position oiset from said vertical axis and about a horizontal axis, said second bracket having an arm portion thereof extending in a direction away from said Vertical axis, and a gun mounted upon said support arm portion so as to be carried thereby ,to extend in a direction oiset from said vertical axis, said second bracket being constructed and arrangedto support said gun exteriorly of said side Wall for aiming alongside thereof under certain conditions of azimuth adjustment of said first bracket and to support said gun wholly interiorly of said side Wall contour under other conditions of azimuth adjustment of said first bracket and for aiming in directions through said side wall aperture under other conditions of azimuth adjustment of said rst bracket.

JOHN C. TRO'II'ER. 

